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You've found yourself humming along. Whether you were in the car, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist's office or trapped on hold with Muzak on the line. The jingles are catchy and memorable; helpful things whether you're trying to sell a condominium or a pizza.

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It's a truth that three of the men behind Montana Steele have long come to realize. As one of the most sought-after real estate advertising firms in the country, it's also a skill they've perfected.

From the World Trade Centre at the foot of Yonge St. to Emerald City in North York and Beyond the Sea in Etobicoke, Montana Steele has staked its reputation in creating advertising plans that seep their way into a buyer's subconscious and work their way through to the ringing cash register.

The company started after Rene DeSantis, 55, left Ad Impact – the firm he had started with current St. Joseph Communications vice-chair Frank Gagliano – and started Montana Steele with three partners including his brother Andy DeSantis, 50. Later he would also call on former Ad Impact employee Joe Latobesi, 48, to help the retail advertising firm service its top-tier clientele.

Over the more than 10 years since it was founded, Montana Steele has shifted its focus from retail marketing to real estate marketing, with each man taking the reins of the part of the business they are best at. Today, Rene is the president, Andy (an OCA grad) is the creative director and Latobesi is vice-president of sales.

Even the firm's name is an advertising success story. Despite what you might expect, there's no connection to Montana or anyone named "Steele" in the firm. Sam Reiss, a former partner with the group who now runs the New Home Buyers Network (homebuyers.com) – the largest new home and condo Internet portal in America – recalls how a savvy knowledge of the media cemented the choice.

"The week we were launching, Joe Montana was scheduled for knee surgery and Danielle Steele had a book coming out," he recalls with a laugh.

"We knew that Montana and Steele would be two of the most newsworthy names at the time."

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De Santis also felt the name projected the right image of the company.

"It gives a sense of strength and the power and that's what we are," says the elder DeSantis."

With the new name in place the men were ready to get down to business. But would the customers follow? A simple direct mail piece was sent out to potential clients promising "a new fresh approach."

They bit.

"From one little project, we started getting noticed and from there, other clients were looking into what we were doing," he says.

Among the first assignments they completed under the Montana Steele name is the gorgeous glass facade building at the start of Yonge St.

"We called it the World Trade Centre and that's when we started coming up with ideas that are bigger than life," he adds.

The company has gone on to market 20 real estate brands a year.

The partners aren't surprised by their success. They say it's the result of years of retail branding experience that makes the difference.

"Basically, you have to understand print, you have to understand displays, you have to understand radio and television, and direct mail. You really have to understand where people buy stuff," explains DeSantis. "We bring that kind of expertise and that kind of branding into the real estate market. We sell things. If we can sell a car, well, we can sell a home."

Latobesi agrees.

"We came up through the retail sector and we learned firsthand from maybe the best retailers in the country. We applied our retail attitude to new home-buying marketing to move people to a sales centre or to a website, or to a phone."

Years of success haven't dampened their satisfaction with their chosen field. Montana Steele has allowed each of them to hone in on his own area of expertise and work separately but collaboratively on all levels of each project. They are involved in everything from the architectural design to project perception to branding.

"One thing that we find very, very exciting about this whole real estate market is it really provides variety of a product. Every single project has a unique brand, a unique position in the marketplace," says the younger DeSantis.

"We have to create an instant brand because we only get three to four weeks before the site actually opens, and it has to have a certain amount of sales, so they can get their financing. We have to make sure the sales centre works and that it's compelling enough that people want to put down a certain amount of dollars, and want to live there."

Innovative ideas are sometimes required to help people see accessibility where they don't initially.

"When we first started, I remember we had a site in Pickering and the price of that home was $10,000 to $15,000 more than the competition," Rene DeSantis recalls. "We came up with the idea of a monthly; that you can buy this house by paying X amount of dollars a month."

Seasoned industry professionals balked at the idea, but the first-time home-buying public loved it. Projects began to see lineups around the block.

The excitement that their projects generate is mirrored by their own. After almost 24 years of friendship, the three men say they are just as jazzed about projects as they were when it all began.

And their success has resulted in a company that has grown to boast almost 40 employees and clients in San Diego, Maui, Hawaii, and across Canada.

"We've been so good in this market for so long that people, clients, have got to know our work, and we get calls from all over North America now," says Latobesi. "It's just a matter of hopping on planes and doing the work."

Adds the older DeSantis: "Our goal is to expand, to continue to expand in this market, and at the same time, always keep an eye on the base here – some very important clients that we've had for a very, very long time. I think that probably our biggest success story is that we manage to keep the clients. We'd like to continue that for sure."

"It's not just servicing; it's great creative, great strategy ideas, all those things bundled together," adds the younger DeSantis of their loyal client base. "It's all about passion, personality and drive. If you lose one of those three, you're finished."

Challenges continue to come, the men say, from outside forces: the economy and their own reputation among them.

"The market has slowed down, obviously," says Latobesi. "Every campaign now has to have real meat, real substance, a real message to move you to make a phone call, or to make a visit to a sales centre."

It's a challenge they say they look forward to defeating.

"We always try to not worry about the activity of the market, and always think about the positive: that people are still buying if you create a good value," says Rene DeSantis.

"People still need homes and people want to live in a certain area. Right now we have a market that is maybe not centre ice for sales, so we're going to make it centre ice,'' he says.

"In other words, we're going to create the traffic, we're going to create the value, and we're going to create the sales."

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